Apparatus for garbage disposal



1951 E. A. SCHONROCK APPARATUS FOR GARBAGE DISPOSAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 27, 1954 WW mm dwin A. Scbonrock INVENTOR.

BY don paw; ZYM

Dec. 19, 1961 E. A. SCHONROCK APPARATUS FOR GARBAGE DISPOSAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 27, 1954 Edw/h A. Schonrack INVENTOR.

Dec. 19, 1961 E. A. SCHONROCK APPARATUS FOR GARBAGE DISPOSAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 27, 1954 M mm M N A v 4 W U m w w E w United tates Patent 3,013,675 APPARATUS FOR GARBAGE DISPOSAL Edwin A. Schonrock, Sehonrock Manufacturing C0., Box 1543, San Angelo, Calif. Filed Dec. 27, 1954, Ser. No. 477,706 1 Claim. (Cl. 21441) This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in apparatus for garbage disposal, and more specifically pertains to improvements in a system and mechanism for the collection and disposal of garbage by a municipality in a more sanitary and economical manner.

The primary object of this invention is to provide improvements in the disposal of garbage by municipalities and the like which will enable a much more sanitary and hygen-ic method for the handling of garbage and the delivery of the same to a garbage dump or processing plant.

A further object of the invention is to provide improvements in apparatus whereby garbage or other matter may be handled in large quantities with the maximum saving in labor, handling, time and equipment.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system and mechanisms in accordance with the preceding objects wherein considerably larger quantities of garbage and other material may be more easily and compactly stored upon a truck and handled thereby during its transport to other locations.

Still another specific object of the invention is to provide mechanism whereby a relatively smaller number of trucks or trucks and trailers may be employed to more economically handle a given mass of garbage or other ma terial, and with a reduction in the manpower and in the number of trips required for the equipment.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation, as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view in vertical longitudinal elevation through a portion of a central garbage disposal plant illustrating the manner in which a truck is loaded with garbage for transporting the same, in accordance with the principles of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic front elevational view of the apparatus of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the manner in which the garbage disposal truck is dumped for discharging its contents at a desired location;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of a storage tank or container forming a part of the truck and trailer equipment in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 5 is a rear elevational view of the container of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 66 of FIGURE 4.

In the accompanying drawings is illustrated a preferred manner or process for handling garbage or other materialwhich is to be transported in quantities from one location to another. principles of this invention are also applicable to the handling of other materials which are susceptible of being compressed or condensed under pressure into a smaller volume whereby a greater quantity of such material may be handled by a truck of a given capacity. Although not limited thereto, the present invention is particularly applicable to municipal or other systems for collecting and disposing of garbage in bulk, and therefore this particular application of the principles of the present inven- It is to be understood that certain tion has been illustrated and described in the drawings and in the following specification.

Indicated generally by the numeral 10 is a structure constituting a collecting plant or center for garbage or other materials and which it is to be understood has delivered thereto, as by conventional hauling or collecting trucks 12, garbage or other material. In accordance with the principles of this invention, the garbage or other material collected by the trucks 12, instead of being delivered by individual trucks to their ultimate destination, as for example, a garbage treating plant or dump, are all brought to the disposal plant 10 and there discharged, as upon a conventional form a conveyor 14 into a common bin or hopper 16. By this means, the conventional collecting vehicles 12, being reduced to the relatively short runs between the place of collection and the disposal plant 10, are enabled to collect a greater tonnage of material in a given time than if they were required to complete their trips to the ultimate place of disposal of the material. As indicated in FIGURE 1, the storage bin or hopper 16 is provided with a depending cylindrical casing 18 which at its lower end opens into a horizontally disposed cylindrical body 20 mounted upon a suitable supporting base 22. The body 20 is open at both of its ends, and is provided at one extremity with a ram or piston 24 slidable therein and provided with a suitable piston rod 26 which may be provided with rack teeth 28.

Extending downwardly into the cylinder 18 is a plunger or piston 30 which is vertically reciprocable from the bin or hopper 16 down into the cylinder 18, and is provided with an actuating rod 32 also provided preferably with rack teeth 34. By suitable mechanism, of any desired character, indicated generally by the numerals 36 and 38, the pistons, rams or plungers 24 and 30, respectively, are caused to reciprocate within the cylinders 20 and 18, respectively, for a purpose to .be subsequently set forth.

As so far described, it will now be apparent that the garbage or other material collected by the individual trucks 12 is all delivered to a single hopper or bin 16 and from thence by the piston 30 is discharged through the cylinder 18 into the cylinder 20, being discharged therefrom from the open right end of the same by means of the ram 24. From the open right end of the discharging cylinder 20, the material is delivered to transporting vehicles having a capacity several times as great as that of the collecting vehicles 12, and by means of which the material is to be conveyed to its utlimate destination. These conveying vehicles preferably consist each of a tractor 40 and a trailer 42, the trailer carrying a cylindrical detachable body 44. By means of a conventional crane 46 suitably mounted in the disposal plant 10, any one of a plurality of stored bodies 44, see

. FIGURE 2, may be operatively connected with the'discharge cylinder 20 whereby the body may be loaded in readiness for placing upon a trailer 42.

It is preferred that the trailer 42 shall be of any of the constructions disclosed and claimed in my prior patent No. 2,661,236, granted December 1, 1953, for

sembly for vertical tilting movement thereon, a suitable cable rigging 47 being connected between the axle assembly and a winch assembly 48 mounted upon the chassis of the tractor 43 whereby through the use of lift arms 50 pivoted to a fifth wheel assembly 52 on the tractor chassis and the chassis of the trailer, the latter may be elevated from the horizontal load carrying position of FIGURES 1 and 2 to a steeply inclined tilted position or dumping position shown in FIGURE 3 for discharging the contents of the body of the trailer. Inasmuch as the trailer construction in itself forms no part of the present invention, and is claimed in my above mentioned patent and copending applications, a further description of the same is believed to be unnecessary.

Referring now more specifically to FIGURES 1 and 46, it will be seen that the detachable trailer body 44 is composed of a generally cylindrical casing of an appropriate size and construction, the same being provided with a closed front end 54 and a rear end which is provided with hinged doors 56 which are mounted upon supports 58 for horizontal swinging movement. A suitable latch member 60 is provided for maintaining the doors in their closed position.

Secured to the opposite sides of the body 44 and adjacent its forward or closed end, there are provided a pair of hangers in the form of hooked brackets 62 which depend beneath the body 44 and are adapted to engage with and be secured to any suitable anchoring means forming a part of the chassis of the trailer, and whose construction is of no concern in the present invention and therefore it has not been illustrated. Upon its upper surface, the body 44 is provided with a plurality of lifting brackets 64 whereby the body may be engaged by the crane 46 for removal of the same.

Immediately adjacent the door 56, the sides of the body 44 are provided with apertured laterally extending bosses 66 and pairs of rods 68 are removably received within these bores, as shown in FIGURE 6. These rods are preferably headed, as at 70, at one end and are provided with bolts or hand wheels 72 threaded upon their opposite extremities for securing the same in place for a purpose to be subsequently set forth.

It will now be observed from an inspection of FIG- URE 1 that when one of the bodies 44 is mounted upon a trailer 42, the latter is backed into position whereby the open rear end of the body 44 Will be telescopingly received upon the open dischrage end of the cylinder 20. Any suitable means may be provided to facilitate the guiding of the cylinder into the open end of the body, and it will be understood that the supporting means 22 will position the cylinder at an appropriate elevation for this purpose. With the truck and its body in place, the mechanism 38 is operated to cause the ram 30 to compress or drive the mass of garbage or other material 80 downwardly through the member 18 into the discharge cylinder 20, thus providing a compacted and condensed mass of this material. The ram 24 is now operated by the mechanism 36 to further compress and condense this material and to discharge the same from the tube 2%) into the cylindrical body 44. It will be understood that the mechanisms 38 and 36 may be operated separately or in unison, as desired. By this means, the mass of material 80 is condensed and compressed into the body 44 into a very densely packed mass 82. Thus, the normally great volume occupied by garbage or other material when the same is loaded into the collecting trucks 12 and handled thereby, is reduced to a fraction of its volume in the members 18 and 20, whereby the tightly compacted mass 82 forming the contents of one of the bodies 44 when loaded will represent the accumulated contents of numerous collecting trucks 12. At this point, it should be noted that the cable dump type of trailer is adapted for handling very heavy loads, as for example, from conventional loads of five tons up to 100 tons in some instances. The size of the body 44 will therefore depend upon the particular operating characteristics of the garbage disposal or other material collecting plant with which the process and mechanism of this invention is to be employed. In any event, it is intended that the body 44 shall receive the combined loads of numerous conventional collecting trucks 12 in order that a single trip by the tractor-trailer combination and of its single driver shall be capable of carrying from the central disposal plant to the ultimate destination, such as a dump or garbage treating installation, in a single trip, the combined loads of many collecting trucks 12 and their drivers. In this manner, there is a considerable saving in the time required by the collecting trucks and their drivers to deliver the garbage or other material collected from the central plant to its ultimate destination, thereby enabling the collection trucks and their drivers to either be economically reduced in number or to be enabled to make considerably more collecting trips than heretofore possible.

After the material has been compressed into the body 44, the rods 68 are inserted and locked in place, and the doors are then closed and latched. By this means, the doors are protected against the extremely great forces which might be imparted thereagainst by the highly compressed mass 82 during its transit, the rods 68 preventing expansion of this mass to any substantial degree towards the doors.

After the truck has reached its destination, as shown in FIGURE 3, the rods 68 are removed and the doors then opened, whereupon the truck trailer is elevated and the mass 82 dumped or discharged therefrom.

It will be seen that this system with its removable bodies and the highly condensing or concentrating of its cargo, enables the central disposal plant to continue its operation of packing the bodies 44 while the truck and trailer are traveling towards and from their discharge point. There is thus a further saving in the time required to load the garbage or other material into the body of the transporting vehicle, since it is possible that the body may be already completely loaded and packed by the apparatus in accordance with the preceding description while the transporting vehicle is in transit. For this purpose, a body may be held by the crane 46 in telescoping or, if preferred, in the abutting position upon the discharge cylinder 20 and loaded, and thereafter placed to one side while a further body is being loaded, so that there need be no delay or wait on the part of the truck and trailer for the loading of the material into the same.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes Will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling Within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

In a garbage disposal system, a hopper, means for charging said hopper with uncompacted batches of garbage, a combined compression and discharge chamber communicating with said hopper and receiving garbage therefrom, means associated with said hopper and discharge chamber and compacting it therein, additional means associated with said discharge chamber further compressing and forcing the compacted garbage from said discharge chamber into the inlet of the container of a compressed garbage transporting vehicle, said container has a single opening providing means for passage of garbage into and out of said container, said additional means having a means in direct communication with the interior of said container through said opening, closure means for said container opening, protective means in said container adjacent said opening preventing pressure of the compressed garbage from being applied to said closure means.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Wilcox Oct. 7, 1902 Smith Jan. 6, 1914 Dinzl July 10, 1934 Howell et a1. Dec. 18, 1934 Spaflord Mar. 16, 1937 6 Hall et a1. Mar. 14, 1950 Feidert Dec. 28, 1952 Feidert Nov. 23, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Apr. 12, 1926 Germany Mar. 30, 1936 

